Wild Obsession

Well, not exactly, cause the bass player from the Steeler stint Volker Krawczak also followed the guitar wizard on this journey, and has been with him all the way to the present day. Fair play to that, but we’re looking now at their very first product outside the Steeler enterprise, the one from which I initially got only half an hour on a cassette in 1989, with a horrendous quality. Despite the murkiness and the noise emitted from said cassette, I couldn’t help but be enchanted by the energy and the vigour coming from it, a brand new German act that meant business.

I’d heard the Steeler recordings before that one, but I had no idea that their guitarist had gone solo, wildly obsessed with reaching the upper echelons of the metal industry, after the disastrous pop-ish swansong (“Undercover Animal”) of his main act. Shortly before that fiasco, however, Pell made a short stop at a one-stint Christmas shopping mall in 1986, where he met quite a few celebrities from the metal circuit in his homeland (Rage, Holy Moses, Living Death, Mekong Delta’s Ralph Hubert, etc.). Music-wise this collaboration wasn’t very useful as the delivery practiced was on the jocund crossover side, but the man was successful into talking none other than the perennial drum adept Jorg Michael (then a part of Rage) from said collaboration into lending a few hits for Pell’s new initiative.

An initiative which also saw one of the most victorious throats at the time, the Victory singer Charlie Huhn, taking over behind the mike. Huhn had just bidden farewell to his Victory comrades for whatever reasons, and was only too happy to get involved in another classic heavy metal cohort. A fairly promising first instalment for everyone, pouring (undercover) animals initially, with the speedy energetic “Wild Cat” elevating the spirits sky-high, Huhn pitching it emotionally with his hoarse but warm tenor at every opportunity, the fiesta tamed to an extent on the classic heavy metal winner “Call of the Wild Dogs”, an infectious sing-alonger with a hit potential in spades. From animals to love, largely unrequited, with ”Slave of Love”, a more mainstream heavy rocker with echoes of the glam metal movement from the other side of the Atlantic; and the more boisterous Accept-esque delight “Cold As Ice” with Pell completely unrestrained with his flashy pyrotechnics leaving blazing trails all around.

Sounds like a total deal so far, even after the soulful heart-rending, also breaking, ballad “Broken Heart”, one of the greatest achievements in this trend from the metal industry, Huhn stealing the show with a wonderfully composed timbre. With this piece the first half easily qualifying for beyond-excellence, the guys slacken a bit later, “Call Her Princess” being a cover of a track from Steeler’s self-titled debut, a dynamic headbanger for sure, but a not very necessary blast from the recent past. A somewhat cheesy ballad (“Snake Eyes”) and a commonplace heavy rocker (“Hear You Calling Me”) follow suit, things not drastically improved after the 1-min non-musical instrumental “Return of the Calyph from the Apocalypse of Babylon”, the slightly tedious stomping closer “(Don't Trust The) Promised Dreams” another semi-convincing proposition despite the pulverizing finale.

The unmitigated cheesy additives don’t ruin the show that much, probable leftovers from Steeler’s last ill-fated stint, Pell only too wise to not serve them profusely. And, if you think of it, it was 1989, other music trends were looming on the horizon, the diminishing hard-core metal fans were all ready to swallow anything with the “retro heavy metal” tag on it, paying no attention to a few poppy dissipations. Job well done overall, a worthy debut which didn’t quite shoot Pell into the stratosphere, but paved the way for a string of solid consistent hard’n heavy slabs, the man staying relevant on the scene all the way to the present day. It’s debatable whether his subdued performance on the guitar, save for the mentioned “Cold As Ice”, can be considered a plus rather than a minus, thus giving chances to the other artists to shine, too, each in their own way; but there could also have been another reason for it: the man was testing the soil, he wasn’t sure if this enterprise would take off… he didn’t want to advertise himself as the new flashy guitar wizard on the block without more tangible warranty… guitar wizards from Germany were a rarity at the time, and even now; a single trailblazer simply wasn’t going to do the trick.

On the other hand, the man used his own name for this project; so it was an autocratic entity from the beginning seemingly… an entity that got rid of Huhn shortly after the album release, but kept the others for a lengthy number of albums throughout the 90’s, including the Huhn replacement Jeff Scott Soto (previously in Yngwie Malmsteen). Yes, Pell did rise to the upper echelons of the metal industry, he did establish himself as the prime guitar wizard from Germany, and not only because of his inordinate productivity… however, it’s the beginning that matters; it was wild, it was obsessive, and it should be fondly remembered… cause this was some way to shake off all nefarious genre-ruining undercover animals.

After his exodus from the 80s glam-leaning outfit Steeler (auspiciously the same namesake as the band that introduced the world to Yngwie Malmasteen), Axel Rudi Pell decided to go it alone, and in subsequent years would grow to develop a sound more worthy of his abilities than what he had been doing. However, like with all solo projects, one can’t help but imitate what one knows at the time until new ideas begin to form, and this release succeeds mostly in being a slightly more musically interesting version of Steeler. It’s full of great guitar work, vocalist Charlie Huhn does a decent job, but overall this is still more of an 80s rock affair than a metallic one.

Charlie Huhn sounds a tiny bit like Jeff Scott Soto in his low to mid range, but when he launches into his higher register he sounds a bit more like a combination of Bon Scott and Udo Dirkschneider. The resulting combination of his vocals and the mostly rock driven riffs is quite good for singing love ballads like “Broken Heart” in the Dokken style, as well as for rock anthems about strippers like “Call her Princess”, but it is painfully obvious that such a voice would not be able to pull off a more art driven work like “Oceans of Time” or “Legions of Hell”.

The musical on here is pretty much as far removed from the current direction of the band as the vocalist is. The principle riffs of 80s glam anthems like “Slave of Love”, “Snake Eyes” and “Cold as Ice” are heavily Motley Crue inspired, while the choruses are a bit more towards the Dokken formula of dense harmonies and multiple backup singers. “Broken Heart” has an interesting acoustic line and plenty of slow melodic solo work, but its overall presentation is not as deep or thought provoking as “Forever Angel” or “The Clown is Dead”.

The musical highlights on here are the areas where Pell seems to be moving towards a more aggressive and progressive style. “Hear you calling me” is quite similar to later and heavier mid tempo rockers such as “Follow the Sign” and “Ride the Rainbow”. “Call her Princess” is mostly a heavy riff oriented song, despite the ode to a stripper style lyrics and still enjoys regular play at live venues on ARP tours. “Wild Cat”, although lyrically another sexual anthem to a pretty vixen, is a fine piece of early speed metal work. “Don’t trust the promised dreams” is the closest thing to an ARP epic to be found on here, although it lacks the epic feel and sounds more like a heavily riff oriented mid-tempo song, the lyrical direction gives an indication of more thoughtful things to come and the musical middle section gives hints at Axel’s fascination with eastern mysticism.

This is a fairly solid 80s glam/sleaze rock album that unlike most comparable outfits of the late 80s actually has the riffs and the attitude to qualify as metal. It is nonetheless an overtly 80s album beyond the fact that it was recorded in the 80s, embodying just about every obligatory stereotype one might imagine. Bands such as Dokken, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Accept, and Warlock are among the most obvious points of comparison. It’s a lot different than the albums that followed it, but is still a good listen if you don’t mind goofy lyrics about getting laid.